An Untimely Airline

Expert Diagnosis Why Lion Air Planes Are Flying Behind Schedule.

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(6/11/2011)

Bisnis.com writes that the Indonesian carrier Lion Air needs to urgently improve its internal management systems in order to reduce the frequency of delayed flights, if they do not wish to loose market share.

Harnowo Tripianto, an aviation observer from Aero Consulting Jakarta, opines that Lion Air must become serious in overcoming its reputation for delayed flights or risk losing customers. "Airlines that are too often late must clearly make internal corrections; don't always be giving unclear explanations to passengers. If they continue to do this, it is possible that Lion Air will lose the faith of potential passengers who will fly with other carriers," warned Tripianto.

Tripianto says there are three internal factors at an airline that can affect on-time performance. Those factors are the readiness of aircraft, the capability and discipline of the crew, and the flight schedules.

The aviation expert says the readiness of aircraft is one factor that must be prioritized. Any aircraft used for carrying passengers must be in good condition, airworthy and ready to fly.

Usually, airline operate their armadas with high operating hours in order maximize aircraft use and keep their lease costs from expanding," he said.

He continued, underlining that airlines must also examine their schedules as a means to reduce delayed flights. Airlines need to review and make corrections to their aircraft operating schedules. He said: "Generally the carriers make schedules that are too crowded in order to maximize the utilization of the aircraft and minimize ground time to keep aircraft costs low. But even though, airlines must keep in mind that bad schedules cause delays."

The director of Lion Air, Edward Sirait, has admitted that his airline has suffered a number of delayed flights in recent days, blaming a widely publicized delay in Pekanbaru on a failure of a crew scheduling system.